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Sports -
Jayhawk-Linn
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Written by David Wolman
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 08:00 |
The Jayhawk-Linn volleyball team walked off the court victorious, having earned a straight-set win over Prairie View in its first match of the season Saturday morning, but yet it had felt far from perfect.
Nervousness was something coach Christa Holt had expected from her team, especially with the Jayhawks having to replace five seniors and junior middle hitter Emma Hargrove, who transferred to Gardner-Edgerton. Not to mention that this was the first live action of the season.
The nerves didn’t seem to be a problem; they got rid of those in a hurry. It was teamwork that Holt thought was lagging. The topic, however, was something she thought didn’t need to be brought up between matches, but rather an issue that could be solved on its own.
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Sports -
Jayhawk-Linn
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Written by David Wolman
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Wednesday, 25 August 2010 08:00 |
Austin Coleman isn’t afraid to deliver a crowd-pleasing hit on the football field. The Jayhawk-Linn sophomore made it known, at least to his teammates, Thursday — the first day high school teams across the state were allowed to put on the shoulder pads.
One of the drills high school football teams perform to kick off the first day of wearing pads is called Oklahoma. In the drill, two pads are set on the ground, about 10 five yards apart, parallel to one another. There are two offensive linemen, two defensive linemen, a linebacker and a running back. The object of the drill is for the running back to maneuver his way between the pads and through the opposing defense without being tackled.
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Sports -
Jayhawk-Linn
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Written by David Wolman
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Wednesday, 25 August 2010 08:00 |
It was a double-or-nothing gamble for the Jayhawk-Linn volleyball team.
Coach Christa Holt huddled her players near the net on the south end of the gymnasium and presented them with a proposition. Earlier during Thursday afternoon’s practice, her squad was issued the task of running five laps around the court for hitting too many balls out of bounds on a serving drill. Come time for team members to perform a serve-receive drill in which a player had to pass the ball to a teammate who was allowed to move only one foot to catch the ball, they could be cleared of having to run any laps if they completed a set number of successful attempts within five minutes.
Would the Jayhawks take up on Holt’s offer? She reminded her players that if they failed to complete the drill within the allotted time frame, they would have to run 10 laps. They accepted the challenge.
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Sports -
Jayhawk-Linn
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Written by David Wolman
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Wednesday, 14 July 2010 08:00 |
Jake Rowe, gripping the football with his right hand, maneuvered his way to the right of the pocket, while keeping his eyes locked on wide receiver Cody Sunderland. Rowe set his feet before launching about a 20-yard pass to Sunderland, who had one-on-one coverage and juked to the left of the defensive back before running in the end zone for a touchdown. 
Minutes earlier, Jayhawk-Linn coach Kirk Holt had split his team into three position drills. Wide receivers worked with assistant coach Trenton Stepps, linebackers with assistant coach Josh Regan and defensive linemen with Holt. During the D-line drill, one player held up a dummy bag, while another teammate attempted to maneuver his way around him. Little things, such as how to use your hands properly, were emphasized.
“You have to thrust your arms toward them very quickly to gain power and leverage,” Holt told one camper.
Yes, football was in the air.
While the regular season doesn’t kick off for another seven weeks, the sweet sounds of the pigskin made their return last week as the Jayhawks conducted a one-week team camp. Despite having just 21 players out for camp, Holt was pleased with the effort he saw.
“Attitude has been great; we’ve had good work ethic in the weight room,” he said. “These guys who are returning this year who experienced that playoff game gained a lot from it. Even though we took one on the nose from Silver Lake, it was a good experience from these kids.”
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Sports -
Jayhawk-Linn
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Written by David Wolman
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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 08:00 |
With her Jayhawk-Linn volleyball players huddled in front of her, coach Christa Holt stared each one of them in the eyes, before providing a pop quiz on a tipping drill for them. It certainly put their brains to work. 
“Why do you want to have the opposing team to play the volleyball three times?” Holt asked her players. In volleyball, each team can touch the ball three times before they have to hit it over the net to the opposing team.
A couple of moments went by without a player blurting out the correct answer. Fortunately, Holt was there to provide it for them.
“Because the more times you have to hit the ball, the more times you have to mess up,” she said.
Fast forward to the next drill, Holt stood on the opposite side of the net of her players to demonstrate a blocking drill. Slowly, she moved her thumbs together, until the pads of them touched.
The point she was trying to make is that when a player goes up to a block a shot, the pads of the thumbs provided the greatest resistance to an oncoming ball. As an extension to the drill, Holt told her players that when they come down to land on their feet, to have their legs positioned perpendicular to the court so they can land softly to avoid injury.
The drills were part of a week-long refresher course in high school volleyball 101. Many of the basic fundamentals of the game were covered in the camp, such as setting, serving and hitting. In one of the more fun drills for the campers, orange cones were placed on the court as targets for a serve-receive drill. It was a fun week for all.
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